A weaker US dollar could have significant potential effects on the UK economy, household finances and long-term financial portfolios. Understanding these implications is important, especially given the high levels of uncertainty in the global economy and the effect of this on financial plans. Key here, amidst all the uncertainty, is ensuring decisions aren’t made rashly, …
Wages are rising strongly while inflation falls to ‘normal’ levels – so where does this leave the Bank of England’s rate decisions? The Bank of England delivered its latest interest rate decision on 8 May, choosing to cut the base rate by 0.25 percentage points to 4.25%. Rate setters take into account a number of …
Introduction April was an explosive month as President Trump’s ‘liberation day’ on 2nd April caused major market turmoil. The trade tariff war was more hostile than markets had predicted and most indices went tumbling as the news of the tariffs broke. Trump quickly rowed back on many of his ‘counter tariffs’, allowing many markets to …
President Trump declared the 2nd of April as “Liberation Day”, which signalled a seismic shift in US trade policy. On the campaign trail, we saw President Trump’s affinity for tariffs, with him labelling the word “the most beautiful word in the dictionary” and noting that he sees tariffs as a way of achieving multiple objectives: …
Chancellor Rachel Reeves has delivered her Spring Statement, outlining the UK’s latest economic and spending priorities against a backdrop of tightening fiscal constraints. Reeves didn’t downplay the difficulties ahead. She pointed directly to external forces, including Donald Trump’s reintroduction of trade tariffs, as factors compounding the strain on the public purse. These global pressures have …
Savers are missing out on millions of pounds in interest after leaving £54 billion in low-interest savings accounts. Analysis from savings provider Paragon Bank has found £52.4 billion is languishing in instant access accounts that pay less than 2% interest, while £1.7 billion is held in fixed-rate ISAs earning 2% or less. Further to that, …
Introduction Geopolitics continues to dominate the financial news as markets continue to react to Trump’s unpredictable tariff war. In 2024 the US was not just the world biggest economy, it was firing on all cylinders, as Trump returned for a second turn. At the end of the first quarter of 2025 the question on many …
This Spring Statement was always intended to be a fiscal non-event. Chancellor Rachel Reeves had promised that there would only be one major economic event each year and last October’s controversial budget was most definitely intended to be it. Speculation has been rising that this Spring Statement might break that promise, and bring some surprises …
Introduction The FTSE 100 hit another record high in February, and both the UK and the Eurozone fared surprisingly well in the face of Trump’s tariff threats. How long European equity markets will continue to outpace US markets remains to be seen but for now it is with some irony that Trump’s aggressive economic policy …
Donald Trump has been inaugurated as the 47th President of the USA, on arrival he has announced a raft of immediate measures and made a series of threats too. One of these threats is the imposition of new trade tariffs. He has warned both Canada and Mexico they could face 25% import tariffs to the …
